You live where you live ... and ex-SAP boss Bill McDermott lives in a house like this While moving house and changing job remain among the most stressful things in life for mere mortals, Bill McDermott is swapping Palm Beach for Silicon Valley weeks after leaving SAP to run ServiceNow. The industry mogul has dipped into his fortune to spend $21.75m on a 11,000-square-foot abode in the ritzy enclave of Atherton …
Given the popularity of home renovation programmes and things like Escape to the Country on daytime TV it's reasonable to assume that people are interested in seeing the compromises someone's had to make when they only had $21m to spend on a new home.
He could've had a lovely cottage in the Wye Valley for far less, and prettier landscapes to look over too. Oh well.
He could have had a similar house across Hwy 280 in Portola Valley, on 15 (or more!) acres, with a view of the South Bay (or Inversion Layer, weather depending) for less than half that. And his commute would have been roughly the same. Atherton is the single most expensive zipcode (94027) in the United States. Go North one block (Redwood City), or South one block (Menlo Park) and the property values plummet. I don't know about you, but to me a zipcode on my mailbox will never be worth millions of dollars.
UK readers may remember the IKEA advertising from around 15 or so years ago. "Chuck out that chintz"; encouraging prospective buyers to throw away old fashioned overstuffed couches, frilly curtains etc. and replace them with cheap, minimalist Swedish flatpack tat.
But hey... I still remember the ad campaign after all these years, and much of the furniture in my place is from said establishment, so clearly there was method to the madness.
Surely the point of a kid's lemonade stand is that it has to be outside to sell to passers by? I can't see the owners of this sort of house letting passing riff-raff wander in to the nursery on the off chance there might be lemonade for sale.
The people in Atherton wouldn't allow passing riff-raff on the street. Nor would they allow such a thing as a Lemonade Stand to exist within city limits. In fact, I rather suspect that children in Atherton are highly frowned upon unless they are kept behind closed, sound-proofed doors.
No doubt the indoor kids-room lemonade stand contains a kid-sized office from which the lucky tyke can lord it over his own private H1-B lemonade stand worker, as befits a future captain of Silicon Valley industry.
"Squeeze faster, maggot!! We have to make this quarter's numbers!"
Atherton is one of the traditional residential areas for Silicon Valley royalty. Coincidentally, there was just a study that showed it is the most expensive residential zip code in the United States. More so than Beverly Hills, or Central Park West in New York City or The Hamptons outside of NYC, or any other well-known "home of the rich and famous" in the U.S.
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-zip-codes-in-america-atherton-2018-11#6-boston-massachusetts-02199-20
Originally a room for storing non - food items but in this context it's likely to be a second kitchen for actually cooking in.
http://www.mp2contractors.com/butler-pantry-vs-walk-pantry/
"A butler pantry is basically a kitchen within a kitchen. Its purpose is to allow you to do food preparation and clean up after meals without actually dirtying your main kitchen – the kitchen that people see. This makes it perfect for people that entertain frequently, or just want to keep their home looking clean and pristine at all times"
Personally I achieve a better result by keeping the whole house for show and just living in the shed :)
It's the room where you wait for your slow-moving butler to shuffle his way in behind you, then quickly jump out over his head and lock him inside. Then stand in front of the locked door and see the pixellated tray he's carrying expose the weakness of the PS1 and jut out through a supposedly solid door.
Oh, to be 11 again and have so much free time, to be able and willing to wander around Croft Manor without playing any levels.
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